Villarreal Presses Natural Gas Tax

State Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, chided the Texas Senate Finance Committee Wednesday for failing to consider a change to the state’s “high-cost” gas exemption, which costs the state $1 billion a year in lost tax revenue.

“The Senate has made progress on the budget, but prioritizing $1 billion for the natural gas industry while cutting state support for schoolchildren by $4 billion is a mistake,” said Rep. Villarreal. “When parents hear how much their children have to sacrifice under this school funding plan, they will be appalled that the natural gas industry wasn’t asked to sacrifice a single penny. Parents deserve to know why the committee threw out its proposal to raise an extra $1 billion to support public education.”

The Senate has been progressing this week on its spending plan, but Villarreal has also had little luck convincing members of the Texas House to revoke the “high-cost gas” exemption. Villarreal recently held a special hearing before the House Appropriations Committee to examine a report by the Legislative Budget board that found the natural gas industry paid no state severance tax on approximately one-third of wells. Audits of refund claims showed a high level of fraud, the report said.

Villarreal noted that the Senate Finance Committee earlier in the month indicated it was interested in revoking the exemption, but dropped the idea without explanation this week.

“The Legislature has options for protecting the quality of public education; all it needs is the will to make the gas industry pay its far share of taxes just like the average Joe,” said Rep. Villarreal.